pics of trucks with dana 60 front axle conversion

[zack]

does anyone have pictures they would post of bumpsides with a dana 60 front axle conversion. I am getting ready to do this on my truck and Im thinking about narrowing the axle to match my stock axle that im removing . I would like to see some trucks that did this swap in order to make my choice to do this or not. thanks for the help !!!!!

[Doug Comer]

Don't mean to nit pic. What year axle or era of years are you putting in. That way you can get the right pic. I have a 78-79 in mine and personally like the extra width. It did look abit funny IMO until I put the 78-79 rear in also. Thats not to say that you will like it though. Average250 has shortened these axles. He can probably give you some good advice on this.

Doug

[zack]

thanks for the reply, I have a front dana 60 from a 79 f 350 , how much wider is the 79 rear axle compared to the highboy?..... does it look that much different?

[Doug Comer]

I'm pretty sure the front end you have is about 1.5 inches wider overall. So it should stick out 3/4 of an inch more on each side. The rear ends of both era(67-72 vs 73-79) track narrower then the front. The difference becomes more noticeable (to me) when you run a 78-79 front and a 67-72 rear. Here is the best pic I have of mine:
I'm running 78-79 front and rear axles

Doug

[zack]

thats a beautiful truck you have there..I really like it . here are a few pics of my truck that I want to do the swap to.

72 crew side - Copy.JPG

72 back pass. - Copy.JPG

I would like to keep my vintage slots on the truck, so Im thinking about narrowing the front axle .....so my tires dont stick out to much....sounds crazy to work around the wheels but Im just thinking about it right now.....

[averagef250]

I didn't narrow a 78-79 axle for bumpside width, rather I built a 35 spline open knuckle low pinion 60 front from a Ford closed knuckle 60 front using a bent 80's 60 front for parts.

The problem you will run into is the open 60 knuckles are large, too large in fact for comfortable room to fit the steering arm at stock length and the shock mounts on the axle tubes. I built the axle at drum brake width, it looked good under my '70 with 255/85R16's on it, but after a couple months of driving it that way I realized I liked the stance and handling of the truck with 35" tires much better. I tore the truck apart for a ground up freshening and haven't got it together yet, but it will have a 4" lift and 35" tires with a 78 HP60 when it's back together.

My recommendation would be to run the 78-79 60 front at full width and not cut it up. I can't comment on the width of the stock bumpside rear axle as I've never run one under a 4x4 with a pickup bed on it. I had one under my '71 F-250 4x4 that I sold last year, but it had a flatbed on it with 35X12.50 BFG's and I felt the stock rear was the perfect width for that truck since the tires just tucked under the bed.

Above all else, use the right wheel offset and width for the tires and axles you decide to run. If you do things should look just peachy. If you run the wrong offset or too wide of a wheel for the tires you have it won't looke right and it'll exagerate the extra width of the front axle.

3/4" per side is hard to notice.

[4x4freakfe427]

I have a 67 high boy that I put a 79 hp 60 in and I have also put in a dana 70 out of a 80's single wheel 1 ton van and the track withed is just about the same as the front, to me if they are not the same withed they look kind of goofy. I am also running 38x15.50x16.5 swampers that are mounted on a set of 16.5x12 weld wheels and I think it is a perfect look, but I like a little tire sticking out. I will look around and try to round up some pictures for you guys.

[Eric L]

Here's a few shots of mine with a '90ish F-350 Dana 60 in front. I think the width is fine as is. wheels are 16x10

Eric

[4x4freakfe427]

I like your ford Eric, are you running 46's?

[Eric L]

I like your ford Eric, are you running 46's?

Thanks, but no, they're only about 38.5" (325/85R-16). they rub the springs bad enough as it is..I wouldn't be able to turn at all with 46" tires.

Eric

[4x4freakfe427]

Heres a pic with dana 60 up front not the best but cant find a good one yet.